Skin is a flexible transparent electronic polymer overlay that you can apply to any non-metallic surface.  That means you can stick it on the wall, or even on a plane of glass or acrylic.  It comes in standard sizes, but the Displax says they can also manufacture custom sizes by order.  It connects to a computer unit via USB.  You can find the product page here.

Sounds pretty amazing!  I can think of so many ways to use this product commercially.  Imagine interactive kiosks, and information centers, or even better, how about corporate conference rooms.

The site didn’t mention pricing … too bad, because the first thing that popped into my mind was application of this technology.  The company website looks like they are looking for distributors and dealers.

Well, as I went about my daily routine, I noticed that the speed of that new “El Cheapo” N router I bought was slower than the super duper trusty 6-year old G router I’ve had for years!  I asked myself … is it me? is it the extra antenna the old one had that this one doesn’t have? hmmm….  By the time I got to 10am, I’d given up.  That new router had to go!

So, off I went back to the shop to upgrade the purchase.  Thank you to Octagon Computer Store at Park Square in Ayala Center!  You guys are great!

So, I ended up buying the best D-Link there was in the store.

DIR-655: Xtreme N  Gigabit Router

The DIR-655 is a dream come true in so many ways.

1.  It’s FAST!

2.  With Shareport technology, I connected my printer to the USB port and now everyone in the house can print.

3.  Configuration and setup was a breeze!  I actually manually entered the setup screens after going through the Wizard and I was surprised to see all of my safeguards put in as defaults in the setup process.  This is fantastic, especially for those who don’t want to get into the nitty gritty details of wireless networking setup.

D-Link’s really made me happy today!  I’m glad I was a bit bratty today and bought another new router!

Highly recommended!

My problem was that my friend’s macbook couldn’t connect, even if all the passwords, etc. were correct.  Airport actually indicated a connection, but under advanced settings / TCPIP you would see that the Airport was NOT picking up an IP address from the router’s DHCP server.  I was getting a local address on the macbook.  I checked the router, and it indicated the macbook as a DHCP client … so I knew that one was assigned to the macbook.

SOLUTION:  Use a lower channel on the router.

I was originally set to channel 11 on my router.  I set it to 5, and voila! all my open browser screens on the macbook connected!

… mmmm…. I love these simple fixes!

Hope this helps.

Symptom:
Drag-Drop a file from one place to another, and I’d lose access to that file. I wouldn’t be able to open, preview, or even delete it.

Copy-Paste of the original file would work.

My Story:
The first time I experienced a problem, it was deleting a file. I got a Cannot Access error … or something like the file was in use by another application. Very annoying.

Eventually, I found UNLOCKER 1.8.9 BY CEDRICK ‘NITCH’ COLLOMB.  This worked for most of my needs.  It always said that there were no lock handles found, and offered to Move, Delete, or Rename the file.  And, for the most part, that was all I needed.

Then, over the weekend, I downloaded two SD cards full of photos onto my desktop.  I named the folders SD1 and SD2.  After that, I organized them into events, further splitting the folders, and drag-dropping the photos into their corresponding event folders.  I should have started to wonder what was wrong when I couldn’t double click on a jpg and get a preview image…. or, when I put the view settings on the Explorer window to thumbnail and it wouldn’t show a miniturized image.   But, oh well, I continued until all the 250 images were properly categorized.

The next step was to process/edit the images.  I couldn’t access any photo at all.  I tried deleting, and that wouldn’t work.

Eventually, after some experimentation, it was the drag-drop that seemed to cause the problem.

I scoured the google search results, finding one unlocker after another.  Here are some of the applications I tried:

• Unlocker 1.8.9 – this is great for simple tasks.  It’s a small app that comes up in the right-click context menu.
• File & Folder Unlocker – I never did figure out how this one worked.  I’m sure it does something, but it definitely didn’t help me in any way.
• Who Lock Me? – This was an interesting and useful app that pops up a window showing the process handle on the file.  Then, it asks you if you want to close the handle or kill it.  The problem I had with this was that I couldn’t get it to work after a couple of times.  No matter what I did, it stopped giving me the pop up window.
• UnLockIt – by EMCO Software.  This is a GREAT APPLICATION.  It has an intuitive interface.  Select the folder or file you want checked, then click the Check button, and vioala!  It gives you the application / process that’s locked the file.

The funny thing is UnLockIt worked to answer definitively (for me, that is) that my problem was not with the file being locked.  It actually said that my problem file was not locked!  The good thing about that is it allowed me to very quickly trim down all my research to one forum post that proposed a check on security permissions. (<<– Click there for the solution!)

A quick Summary of Steps:

• Basically, you check this by booting up as Administrator with XP in Safe Mode.  (You don’t need to be in Safe Mode if you are using XP Professional).
• Once you do that, click on your problem file/folder and select Properties.
• Now that you are in Safe Mode, there will be a Security tab.  Go and click on that.
• There you will find who has access and what type of access that user/group has over that particular item.

I actually had to re-assign access at the highest level, my C: Drive!

I still haven’t figured out what or how my permissions were changed. That’s for another investigation, if and when I will ever find the time.

I hope this helps those of you with similar problems.

It only takes a trip to a destination that doesn’t have free wi-fi (when you thought it would) to make you cringe.  My cute ‘lil Acer Aspire One netbook has wonderful boot-up time, is incredibly portable, and has decent battery life.  The problem is entering an establishment like Starbucks for example and you have to frown at the need to pay P100 for an hour connect time.  In this day and age, signal should be free!  Oh well, that’s me.  And, really, you have to blame all those bandwidth hoggers (and hackers) out there who are probably the reason for all these inconveniences.

Yes, yes, you say, use your smartphone.  That’s what the data plan is for anyway.  For quick searches, I really don’t mind; but, when I am sitting having my coffee, it’s great to be able to pull up your email and possibly shoot out a couple of reports while enjoying your favorite java.

So, I went searching and actually learned that there was an Acer Aspire One model with 3G!  But, of course, it wasn’t sold here. grrrrr….

More searching led me to TnkGrl‘s blog site, specifically, her HSDPA mod post.  She’s amazing!  Here’s a pic:

I’m not sure if I am ready to go into all the soldering required, though, and if I were, the parts just aren’t available here in the Philippines.  Maybe sometime in the future, though.  I’d love to slap a sim card in there and be connected!

You see, many many years ago, when I moved into my condo and set up my wireless connection, it was focused on filling a “want” to have the connection and information of the internet available anywhere and anytime throughout my home.  That first step was simple enough by configuring a couple of wireless routers/access points in strategic areas in the condo.

The next and more difficult one was the matter of the console.  I actually searched for this device, but at the time it did not exist.  I wanted something I could hang on the wall of each living space that you could simply power on with a click of a button and it would automatically be connected.  My smartphone worked for a while, but I couldn’t really do everything I wanted because of software compatibility limitations.

What did I want this console to do?

• Instant access to the net … information at my fingertips!  Say I’m watching the news and a story comes up that’s interesting, I want to be able to pick up this device and research it pronto!  Or, say I’m watching NatGeo and an interesting topic comes up … simply Google it!

So, I listed all the features I wanted in the device:

• Almost instantaneous power-on (oh, how I miss my Clie and Palm Pilot)
• Touch screen
• Wi-Fi
• Sound capable
• Big enough screen to type on

As I said in my first post about the iPad, I’m still going to wait.  Right now, it’s just not enough.

I figure I need to have a camera on it.  I want to Skype on the iPad.  That would make it enough to buy and stick on my wall.

Interesting, yeah?!  So, that got me to go straight to the Gizmodo site to check out the details direct from the source.

Really, though, as I write this, I am thinking more about the article as to how the iPhone was found.  It really is rather amuzing.  Here’s the link to the article on the Gizmodo site.

Too bad for the software engineer who was said to have accidentally left this little jewel at a bar in Redwood City.  Oooohhhh!  I can only imagine what’s going on at Apple headquarters right now.  This makes me wonder how Apple will re-package the launch of this new version.  Ouch!

Maximus is a foreign acrobat entertainment act featured at Bar 360.  It’s actually a compilation of various acrobats — Power Duo, Essence Trio, Yulia & Yuri — from Russia,  Ukraine and Belarus.  Whenever I’ve watched Maximus, Brazilian dancers Juliana & Rafael also perform.  They are pretty entertaining, as well.

Maximus is worth watching, and I’ve seen them more than once.  If you plan to go, make sure though that they are performing.  I had a mishap the other day, when I took a friend to watch on a Monday, and apparently the management had changed the schedule and Maximus was not performing.  I think it is safe to say that if you go on a Friday or a Saturday night, they are going to be there.  Come early on a weekend night (around 8pm) so you get a good seat.

Bar 360

Bar 360 is located in the middle of the casino’s ground floor.  You can’t miss it if you come in from the casino’s front door.  Drinks are reasonably priced, so go ahead and order that bottle of wine if you are with a group.  The service is alright, with some bright spots (and unfortunately, some dim ones).  The casino is quite new, so who knows, service could still be settling down with many more improvements to come.

Last week, Bar 360 started a Ladies’ Night special event on Wednesdays.  I hear this will continue.  On these nights, ladies enter for P700, inclusive of three Lemontinis — a pretty good deal, actually!  My brother and sister-in-law went on opening night and enjoyed with many funny stories the following day.  I’m going to have to try that out sometime.

One thumbs down I have for Bar 360 is that they do not serve food.  The only pica-pica they offer are ridged potato chips and peanuts.  See, the problem with that is they don’t go with all the other drinks offered at the bar.  You can’t really pair those with wine.  I figure they should at least have a more extensive pica-pica menu and some choice desserts to go with coffee.

The other thumbs down I have is that you have to pay for parking and valet (regardless of how much you spend at the restaurants and bar) unless you play at the casino!    You think after spending a decent amount of money at non-gambling entertainment that it would at least deserve free parking!  Oh well, that’s a wish.

There are other places at RWM worth visiting.  But, if you’re going to plan a first trip there, make sure to see Maximus.   You won’t be disappointed.

Ok, with that out of the way, let’s talk about the new Malcolm’s Place.  Apparently, Malcolm’s Place has taken over the former Maurizio’s!

They’ve retained the Maurizio’s menu, which was fantastic, of course!

Unfortunately, they’ve slimmed down their wine menu (as compared to the original Malcolm’s) and priced it for fine dining (which was what Maurizio’s was).  It’s sad to see a restaurant make such a huge error.  The last time I was there, my friends and I walked from the center of Salcedo looking for a good place on a Friday night.  We went from one place to another … all were jam-packed!  Not a table available for hours!  So we walked to the original Malcolm’s near the Sommerset along H.V. dela Costa.  They were full too!  They pointed us to the new Malcolm’s at the former Maurizio’s and said we could get a table there.  Lo and behold! The place was practically empty!  There was no wine list because they offered just one choice of white or red (neither exciting), each sold only by the glass!

I asked them why the difference between the two places, and they explained that it is because the new location is fine dining.  Fine dining, yeah. But there was no one there!

Sometimes, you really have to wonder about these restauranteurs.  They could at the very least have shared the wine list and pricing across both locations and had the new place receive the overflow from the old location.

Grrr…. at the end of the day, we ended up at The Establishment at The Fort Strip.

That’s for the next post.

CD-R King's M12 Mobile Scanner P2990

I’ve been searching and searching for a portable scanner for ages!  None available in the Philippines … until NOW!  Every now and then I go to CD-R King over at Greenbelt 1 just to see what new items they have for sale.  Prior to yesterday’s trip, all they had were the 4×6 photo scanners that allow you to import your prints to digital format.  But, that’s not enough, really.  To make a mobile office truly functional, you have to be able to import documents.  That meant I really need more.

I’d seen these mobile scanners in the States before, and boy, what a surprise that when I ran my typical question to the lady at the counter … “Scanner? Portable?” expecting a “No”, her eyes lit up and said “Yes, ma’am, we have!”  I was like … “nonono… not the 4×6 one…”  She promptly said, “No ma’am, it can do documents!”  She spun around and grabbed a box, and lo and behold! There it was!  I’ve been waiting for this for over a year!  Finally!

So, off to the ATM I went and came home with my newest toy!  This one is not really a toy … but it’s cool and will make my work go soooo much faster!

It can scan at 600 dpi and comes with a cd containing Windows drivers and useful applications.  It can save scans as .jpg or .pdf.

Cost:  P2990

The only downside right now is that the drivers included in the CD are only for Windows.  I wish they’d include Linux drivers and Mac OSX, just to make it an ultra all-around assistant to the mobile professional.

EDIT:  MAC OSX DRIVER
The CD-R King M12 Mobile Scanner appears to be the same scanner sold by Plustek (OpticSlim M12 Plus).  The wonderful thing about that discovery is that Plustek has a download page for the Mac OSX driver.  You can find that here. Thanks Plustek!

Thanks, CD-R King!